1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spray head that provides desirable spray characteristics from a low pressure fluid source.
2. Background of the Related Art
Showerheads, faucets and other spray heads or nozzles are commercially available in numerous designs and configurations. While many showerheads and faucets are designed and sold for their decorative styling, there is a great number of different showerhead mechanisms which are intended to improve or change a characteristic of the water spray pattern. Any particular spray pattern may be described by the characteristics of spray width, spray distribution or trajectory, spray velocity, and the like. Furthermore, the spray pattern may be adapted or designed for various purposes, including a more pleasant feeling to the skin, better performance at rinsing, massaging of muscles and conservation of water, just to name a few.
The vast majority of spray heads may be categorized as being either stationary or oscillating and having either fixed or adjustable openings or jets. Stationary spray heads with fixed jets are the simplest of all spray heads, consisting essentially of a water chamber and one or more jets directed to produce a constant pattern. Stationary spray heads with adjustable jets are typically of a similar construction, except that some adjustment of the jet direction, jet opening size and/or the number of jets utilized is facilitated. For example, a showerhead typically used in new residential home construction provides a stationary spray housing having a plurality of spray jets disposed in a circular pattern, wherein the velocity of the spray is adjustable my manually rotating an adjustment ring relative to the spray housing.
These stationary spray heads cause water to flow through its apertures and traverse essentially the same path in a repetitive fashion, such as a showerhead jet directing water at a fixed position on a person's skin. The user of such a showerhead feels a stream of water continuously on the same area and, particularly at high pressures or flow rates, the user may sense that the water is drilling into the body, thus diminishing the positive effect derived from such a shower head. In order to reduce this undesirable feeling from showerheads, and to improve the water distribution from spray heads generally, various attempts have been made to provide oscillating spray heads.
Examples of oscillating showerheads are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,584 (Drew et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,357 (Baisch), U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,385 (Bruno), U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,457 (Brewer), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,664 (Heitzman). U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,457 (Brewer) discloses an oscillating showerhead that uses an impeller wheel mounted to a gear box assembly which produces an oscillating movement of the nozzle. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,664 (Heitzman) discloses a showerhead having a rotary valve member driven by a turbine wheel and gear reducer for cycling the flow rate through the housing between high and low flow rates. Both of these showerheads require extremely complex mechanical structures in order to accomplish the desired motion. Consequently, these mechanisms are prone to failure due to wear on various parts and mineral deposits throughout the structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,584 (Drew et al.) also discloses an oscillating showerhead, but utilizes a nozzle mounted on a stem that rotates and pivots under forces places on it by water entering through radially disposed slots into a chamber around stem. Although this showerhead is simpler than those of Brewer and Heitzman, it still includes a large number of pieces requiring precise dimensions and numerous connections between pieces. Furthermore, the showerhead relies upon small openings for water passageways and is subject to mineral buildup and plugging with particles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,927 (Lee) discloses a showerhead with a turbine having a plurality of blades designed to produce vibration and pulsation. One blade is provided with an eccentric weight which causes vibration and an opposite blade is provided with a front flange which cause pulsation by momentarily blocking the water jets. Again, the construction of this showerhead is rather complex and its narrow passageways are subject to mineral buildup and plugging with particulates.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,247 (Golan et al.) discloses a shower head including a housing, a turbine and a fluid exit body, such that fluid flowing through the turbine causes rotation of the turbine. The rotating (spinning) turbine can be used to cause rotation of the fluid exit body and/or a side-to-side rocking motion in a pendulum like manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,438 (Meyer) discloses a sprinkler head having a housing with an inlet, a water distributing structure having a nozzle on one end and a cup shaped element at the opposite end which is operative in response to the tangential flow of water into the housing for effecting the orbital movement of the nozzle. There is also disclosed a disk that rotates in rolling contact with a surface within the housing for effecting the fractional rotation of the nozzle. The cup shaped element rotates about the longitudinal axis in response to the flow of water from the inlet.
The foregoing devices, however, are not well suited for use with low pressure water sources, such as the water supplies in some rural areas, homes having partially restricted pipes, or in lesser developed nations. Therefore, there is a need for an improved spray head or showerhead that delivers water in a desirable and uniform fashion even at low pressures or flow rates suitable for use in showerheads and sink faucets. It would be further desirable if the spray head provided a simple design and construction with minimal parts.